How to Change Default Printer

Last week, a friend called in a panic — she'd been trying to print boarding passes for a full hour with zero success. Every time she hit print, the job disappeared. Turns out, her computer was still routing everything to a printer she'd donated months earlier. Knowing how to change your default printer would have fixed the whole thing in under sixty seconds. If you're building out your print setup for the first time, the printer guides on this site are a solid starting point for everything from basic settings to advanced troubleshooting.

Your default printer is the device your computer automatically sends print jobs to whenever you press print — unless you manually pick a different one in the print dialog. It's one of those settings most people never touch until something breaks. Maybe you got a new printer and the old one is still running the show. Maybe print jobs are queuing up somewhere invisible. Or maybe you're juggling a home printer, an office printer, and a label printer and need different defaults depending on the day.

This guide covers the exact steps for Windows, Mac, Chromebook, iPhone, and Android. Beyond the how-to, you'll find tips for managing multiple printers, a comparison of common printer types to help you pick the right default, and the biggest mistakes people make with this one small but surprisingly important setting.

When It Makes Sense to Switch Your Default Printer

Changing your default printer isn't just a tech enthusiast thing. There are plenty of real, everyday situations where it comes up. Recognizing those situations ahead of time saves you the frustration of a botched print job later.

Everyday Home and Work Scenarios

Think about your own setup. Do any of these sound familiar?

• You bought a new all-in-one printer, but your computer still defaults to the old one — which is now in a closet.
• You work from home and switch between a personal printer and a shared network printer depending on the project.
• You're printing photos and want a dedicated photo printer ready to go without hunting through a dropdown every time — especially if you're working on learning how to print on photo paper with the correct color and media settings.
• You installed a PDF printer (like Microsoft Print to PDF) and now that's somehow your default instead of your actual physical printer.
• Your office has multiple printers in different rooms, and you always want jobs to go to the one closest to your desk — not the one in the conference room on another floor.
• You share a computer with family members who use different printers for different things.

Creative and Craft Scenarios

If you do any kind of printing for crafts — iron-on transfers, sticker sheets, vinyl projects, or sublimation blanks — managing your default printer becomes even more critical. You might have:

• A standard inkjet for everyday documents
• A dedicated sublimation printer loaded with dye-sub ink
• A label printer for packaging or product tags
• A wide-format printer for large design prints or pattern sheets

Each of these has very different settings and paper types. Sending a sublimation print job to your regular document printer by accident wastes ink, paper, and time. Keeping the right one set as your default for each session is just good practice.

According to Wikipedia's overview of computer printing, the variety of printer types available to home and small-business users has expanded dramatically over the past two decades — which is exactly why managing your default has become a more common everyday task rather than something only IT professionals deal with.

How to Change Your Default Printer on Windows

Windows is where most people run into this question. The steps differ slightly depending on your version, but neither takes more than a minute once you know where to look.

Windows 11

1. Click the Start button and open Settings (the gear icon, or press Windows + I).
2. In the left sidebar, click Bluetooth & devices.
3. Click Printers & scanners.
4. Scroll down until you see the option "Let Windows manage my default printer." Make sure this is turned off. (More on why below.)
5. In the printer list above, click the printer you want to set as your default.
6. Click the Set as default button.

You'll see a "Default" label appear under the printer's name. That confirms the change is saved. The next time you hit print from any application, that printer will be selected automatically.

Windows 10

1. Open Settings from the Start menu (or press Windows + I).
2. Click Devices.
3. Select Printers & scanners from the left panel.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and uncheck "Let Windows manage my default printer" if it's currently checked.
5. Back in the printer list, click the printer you want.
6. Click Manage, then click Set as default.

If the printer you want doesn't appear in the list at all, it may not be installed. Go back to Printers & scanners and click Add a printer or scanner. Windows will search your network and connected ports for available devices.

Disabling "Let Windows Manage My Default Printer"

This one setting causes more confusion than almost anything else in Windows printing. When it's enabled, Windows watches which printer you use most recently and automatically reassigns your default to that one. It's meant to be helpful, but in practice it leads to your default constantly shifting around without any obvious reason.

Here's when you definitely want to turn it off:

• You have two or more printers and want consistent behavior every time
• Your default printer keeps resetting on its own after you've changed it
• You share a computer with other people who print to different devices
• You've set a specific printer as your default and expect it to stay that way

Once you turn the setting off and manually select your preferred printer, your choice will persist — through reboots, through application switches, and through new print jobs from any program.

How to Change Your Default Printer on Mac, Mobile, and Chromebook

Not everyone is on Windows. Here's how the same task works on other common platforms.

Mac

1. Open System Settings (macOS Ventura or later) or System Preferences (older macOS versions).
2. Click Printers & Scanners.
3. Look for the "Default printer" dropdown, usually near the bottom of the panel.
4. Click it and select the printer you want as your permanent default.

You'll also see a "Default paper size" dropdown nearby. If you frequently print to a specific size — like legal or A4 — it's worth setting that here too, so you're not adjusting it in every print dialog. If you want to understand the full range of paper sizes before locking that in, the guide on standard printer paper sizes is worth a quick read.

One Mac-specific option is "Last Printer Used" in that same dropdown. It behaves similarly to Windows' auto-manage feature — your default shifts to whatever printer you used most recently. If you want a specific printer to always be selected by default, choose it by name rather than using this option.

iPhone and Android

Mobile devices work differently from desktops — they don't have a traditional "default printer" setting tied to a single device globally. Instead, they remember your most recent choice and surface it first.

• iPhone and iPad: Apple uses AirPrint. When you tap Share → Print, your device shows the last printer you used at the top. There's no system-wide default you can lock in — but you can tap Select Printer and choose a different one at any time. It remembers your last pick going forward.
• Android: Go to Settings → Connected devices → Printing. Enable a print service plugin (HP Print Service, Canon Print Service, Mopria, etc.). Within that service's settings, you can often set a preferred printer. The experience varies slightly by manufacturer and Android version.

Chromebook

1. Click the clock icon in the bottom-right corner to open the system tray.
2. Click the gear icon to open Settings.
3. Scroll down and click Advanced, then go to Printing → Printers.
4. Find the printer you want in your saved list.
5. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to it.
6. Select "Set as default."

If your printer isn't showing up on a Chromebook, the most common fix is making sure it's connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Chromebooks primarily discover printers over the network — direct USB connections work but are less common.

Smart Habits for Managing Your Default Printer

Changing the default is the easy part. Getting your whole print setup to work reliably over time takes a little more intention. These habits make a real difference.

• Give your printers clear, meaningful names. Rename them in your printer settings to something obvious — "Kitchen Inkjet," "Office Laser," or "Label Printer Desk." Generic manufacturer names like "EPSON ET-4850 Series" are hard to tell apart, especially when you're in a hurry.
• Remove printers you no longer use. Old or disconnected printers still sit in your printer list and can interfere with auto-select features. Delete them. If you ever need to add one back, reinstalling a driver takes only a few minutes.
• Check your default after OS updates. Major operating system updates — the kind that feel like an upgrade, not just a patch — occasionally reset printer preferences. Build a habit of checking after any significant update.
• Save presets for common print jobs. Most printer drivers let you save a group of settings as a named preset. Create one for everyday documents (draft quality, black only) and one for photos or crafts (high quality, color). It saves time and reduces waste from test prints.
• Know what type of printer you're working with. Inkjet printers and laser printers behave very differently in terms of startup time, ink consumption, and what they're best suited for. Understanding your device type helps you make better decisions about which one to set as your default for any given task.

Keeping Your Printer Running Well

Your default printer is the one that takes the most wear. A few basic care habits keep it in good shape.

• Print regularly. Inkjet printers are especially vulnerable to dried nozzles when left idle for weeks at a time. Running a test page once a week keeps the ink flowing. If you're trying to budget ink usage, the guide on how long printer ink lasts breaks down the factors that affect cartridge life.
• Clean rollers and paper paths. Dust and paper particles build up on the rollers that feed paper through your printer. A dry lint-free cloth run through the paper path every month or two helps prevent jams and skewed prints.
• Use paper that matches your printer's specs. Cheap paper creates more paper dust, causes more jams, and degrades print quality faster than people expect. Check your printer's manual for the recommended paper weight range.
• Store spare ink and toner correctly. Cartridges stored in extreme heat or cold degrade faster. Keep backups in a cool, dry drawer — not on a sunny windowsill.
• Update drivers when things start acting odd. Manufacturer driver updates often fix compatibility bugs introduced by OS updates. If your printer starts misbehaving after a system update, check for a newer driver before assuming hardware failure.

If you're thinking about how many more years you'll get out of your current device before shopping for a new default, the guide on how long printers last covers expected lifespans by type and what shortens them.

Comparing Common Printer Types as Your Daily Default

Choosing the right printer as your system default is partly about convenience and partly about what you actually print most. Here's a straightforward comparison to help you think it through.

Most home users with a single all-in-one inkjet don't have to think too hard about this — their one physical printer is the obvious default. The comparison matters more when you have two or more devices. In that case, set the one you reach for most often as your default and let the others live as secondary choices in your print dialog.

For Epson inkjet owners specifically, there's one scenario worth knowing about: if certain color cartridges run out or get flagged as low, Epson printers may pause all printing — even jobs that only need black ink. The guide on getting your Epson to print with only black ink explains how to work around that, which is relevant if your printer suddenly goes offline and drops off your available device list.

Mistakes People Make — and Myths Worth Clearing Up

A surprising number of print headaches trace back to one overlooked setting or one persistent misconception. Here's what to watch for on both fronts.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving "Let Windows manage my default printer" turned on. This is the most common cause of a default that keeps changing on its own. Most users are better off with this feature disabled so they stay in control of the setting.
• Assuming the first printer in the list is the default. The list order is not the same as priority. Look for the explicit "Default" label or checkmark under a printer's name — that's the only reliable indicator.
• Not checking the default after installing a new printer. Some printer installation wizards automatically set the newly installed device as your default. That's convenient when you want it, but annoying when you don't. Always verify after any new driver or hardware install.
• Confusing "default printer" with "default print settings." Changing your default printer controls where jobs go. It doesn't change print quality, color mode, or paper size — those are set separately in printer preferences or in the print dialog itself.
• Keeping offline or disconnected printers in the list. If your default printer shows as offline, every print job queues up silently and never prints. Remove printers you no longer use, or make sure your active printer is powered on and connected before printing.
• Not having the right permissions on a shared computer. On work or family computers managed by an administrator, you may not have permission to change the system default printer. In that case, you can still choose a printer at print time — you just can't lock in a permanent default without admin access.

Myths Debunked

These misconceptions come up constantly in printer support forums. Most of them have a grain of logic, which is why they stick around — but none of them are true.

• Myth: Changing your default printer affects print quality.
  The default printer setting only determines where your job goes. Print quality is entirely controlled by the printer's hardware, its driver settings, and the media you're using. Routing a job to a different printer changes the destination — not the output quality of the printer itself.
• Myth: You need to restart your computer after changing the default.
  The change takes effect immediately. Open a print dialog right after changing the setting and you'll see the new default already selected. No reboot needed.
• Myth: The default printer setting syncs across all your devices.
  Each device has completely independent printer settings. Changing the default on your laptop has no effect on your desktop, phone, or tablet. You'll need to update each device separately.
• Myth: You can only have one printer installed at a time.
  You can install as many printers as your system supports — physical devices, network printers, and virtual printers all coexist in the same list. The default is simply the one your system uses when you don't specify otherwise. You can still select any other installed printer manually at print time.
• Myth: Virtual printers like "Print to PDF" can't be set as the default.
  They absolutely can. If you spend most of your day creating PDFs rather than printing physical pages, setting Microsoft Print to PDF or a similar virtual printer as your default saves you from selecting it manually every single time.
• Myth: The default printer controls which printer gets used for all apps.
  This is mostly true, but many applications — especially word processors and design tools — remember the last printer you used within that specific app and may suggest it first, even if it's not your system default. The system default is a fallback; individual apps can have their own memory of your choices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to change your default printer is a small skill, but it saves real time and real frustration every time you sit down to print. Now that you have the steps for every major platform, go make the change — open your printer settings right now, pick the device you actually use most, and lock it in as your default. One minute of setup today means no more mystery print queues tomorrow.

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